MLB.com | Mark Feinsand: With baseball’s annual Winter Meetings coming up early next week, both national and beat reporters have spent this week breaking down rumors and laying out their predictions for what looks to be an intense couple of days in Orlando. This week, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand took to Reddit for an AMA, then posted the answers to the most interesting questions to MLB.com. While the article isn’t Yankees-specific, he does address the Paul Skenes trade rumor (spoiler alert: not happening, at least this winter), the Sandy Alcántara rumors (more likely, but still a longshot), the Tatsuya Imai rumors (seems the most likely), and the Cody Bellinger/outfield plan.

Yahoo! Sports | Kristie Ackert: More specifically homing in on the Yankees, Kristie Ackert highlighted three main areas in which the Yankees need to make a decision heading into the Winter Meetings. Specifically, she argues that the team needs to bolster both the back of the bullpen and its rotation depth, and notes that the organization needs to actually make a long-term plan regarding the organization’s top outfield prospects whether or not Cody Bellinger stays in the Bronx.

Seattle Times | Adam Jude: (subscription required, although the relevant parts are quoted by Jack Markowski for Sports Illustrated.) While most public attention has been on the Yankees’ need to add another outfielder this winter, the Yankees may also be wading into the infield market. Reports out of Seattle suggest that the Yankees are among the teams who have been linked to free agent infielder Jorge Polanco. He’s a bit of a tough fit, given the fact that he was primarily a designated hitter last season, and when he did play the field, it was mostly at second base, but he did post a .265/.326/.495 slash line last season and had an .888 OPS against lefties.

MLB.com | Press Release: The Yankees formally announced their 2026 coaching staff yesterday afternoon. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t that many changes from a team off back-to-back 94-win seasons and with a World Series appearance within the last two years. Of the three newcomers to the staff, two are internal hires, having been promoted to assistant coaching positions after spending time coaching the Yankees’ affiliates; the third, Desi Druschel, isn’t even really an outside hire either, as he returns to the Assistant Pitching Coach position he held from 2022-2024 after spending a one-year hiatus in Queens. While nothing was a real surprise — most moves had been revealed by the Yankees’ beat over the past few months, the press release does mark an important milestone in the winter as we begin to look towards 2026.

New York Post | Matt Ehalt: Over the last four years, the YES Network and ESPN have shared David Cone, who called 40 games this past season for the Yankees network while doing color commentary for Sunday Night Baseball. With ESPN handing over Sunday Night Baseball to NBC and picking up more midweek games, however, it is entirely possible that Cone — whose contract with ESPN ends early next year — might become a free agent, at least on the national stage. Fortunately, not only is Cone’s status with YES secure, we’re expected to see him on the broadcast even more next year, as YES shrunk the size of its broadcast rotation following the 2025 season.